Author Archive: Retro

Topnotch variety show with a superior all-star cast. Dir. Lewis D. Collins.

Fortune hunter Patrick O’Brien has left his daughter Kathy and guide Umbopa to trek across the desert in hopes of finding the fabled diamond mines of Solomon. This first version of H. Rider Haggard’s 1884 novel has a wonderful cast (Paul Robeson, Cedric Hardwicke, Anna Lee, Roland Young and John Loder) and excellent production values.

A profile of Paul Robeson (1898-1976), the controversial actor, singer, athlete and author who was as well-known for his politics as he was for his performances.

Lonely ape-man kidnaps a woman in an attempt to find love. Dir. G.M. Anderson and Jesse J. Robbins.

Gertie flees New York City, running from an old boyfriend, and finds herself on the island of Trinidad.

A streetfighter trained by the mob sets out on his own. Two hitmen get a contract to kill him but the plan goes awry and his wife and child are killed. He sets out on a personal vendetta to get the hitmen.

A young man just released from prison and living with his sister crosses paths with two children, also brother and sister, who are on the run from their child pornographer foster parents.

In this action-drama an African American youth must deal with both physical tests and the racism of his peers as he works to become a full-fledged fire fighter. He is the only black man in an all-white unit and learns that the man he replaced was killed in a fire set by a black arsonist.

Statuesque former playmate Jeanne Bell is a karate expert searching for her missing brother and kicking the hell out of anyone who gets in her way. A blaxploitation favorite, no doubt for the curious way Bell’s shirts get torn off in the fight scenes.